The Best Minutes
by The Atomic Cafe
Summary: Mac and Claire wait, every month, for the pregnancy test results.


**The Best Minutes**

**By Dimgwrthien**

_Disclaimer: I do not own CSI: NY or affiliates._

_Author's Notes: I want one of you to remind me to write the sequel to this because I keep forgetting._

"You sure you want kids?" Claire asked Mac through the bathroom door. She held the pregnancy test in his hand, a set of instructions in the other. She wouldn't try it until Mac reassured her over and over again that it was right.

She heard Mac lean against the door. "Claire, you know we both like kids. This is _another_ try. We have a chance this time."

Claire looked at the stick doubtfully. "I don't think we're quite ready for -"

"If it's time, we'll be able to," Mac told her. Claire closed her eyes and leaned on the skin. "Claire, you're a caring and wonderful woman, and I'm sure any baby would love to have you as their mother."

"You're ready for this?" Claire asked.

"I can be ready." Mac's voice was reassuring. "Please just test it. You want a family so much, Claire, and it's your chance to see."

"You want a family, right?"

"More than anything," Mac reassured her. "Here, if it's a boy, we'll even name him after me."

Claire grinned. "And if it's a girl?"

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves!" Mac joked, and Claire could imagine him smiling. "If it's a girl, forget the name. The only detail is that _you're_ raising her."

"Aw, don't be a spoilsport," Claire scolded.

"Well, if it's positive, I'll go through every baby book in the world and find the most beautiful name ever," Mac explained. "Now go try it."

"Alright, alright." Claire lifted the toilet lid. "I'm starting it." She looked at the stick once more before unbuttoning her pants. "Getting close," she informed him. Once she pulled her pants down and sat, she called, "So close!"

Mac laughed. "Hurry up, Claire. I'm not waiting this long."

Claire quickly finished the test, shutting her eyes after she started the stopwatch timed for one minute. "Just a minute to wait!"

"Can I come in yet?" Mac asked.

Quickly buttoning her jeans again, she unlocked the door to let him in. "Fifty seconds," she told him.

Mac put an arm to her back, stroking quietly. "I love you, Claire."

"I know you do."

"Forty seconds," Mac updated.

"I'm closing my eyes." Claire did so, putting the stopwatch on the bathroom counter. "Please don't count. It's making me nervous."

Mac noticed that it was down to thirty-two seconds, and he hugged Claire from behind. "You're going to make a wonderful mother, you know that. Just a little bit more to wait."

It took Mac a minute to realize that Claire was mouthing something over and over. It was, "Please, please, please." Her hands were pressed to her eyes, too anxious to even take a glance at the watch.

"We'll set up a place for the baby the second we know, and you're going to be able to gloat to all of your friends that you have the most amazing baby in the world," he whispered to her ear. He felt he was trying to reassure himself more than her.

Claire still mouthed, "Please, please, please."

Fifteen seconds.

Mac held his breath and closed his own eyes. Claire continued to plead, this time her voice rising to a whisper. "Please, please, please."

Ten seconds.

"Does it show anything yet?" Claire asked. Mac almost opened his eyes to look when she panicked. "No, no! Don't tell me!"

Five seconds.

Claire suddenly fell silent, and Mac knew that her eyes were still closed. Both didn't move, didn't make a sound, didn't even breathe for the last five seconds. It trickled away slowly until the stopwatch gave off a tiny beeping sound.

Claire opened her eyes while Mac kept his shut. "Oh my God," was all Mac heard. Claire just repeated, "Oh my God."

"Are you pregnant?" Mac asked, not wanting to look yet.

He felt Claire's hair move around his chin as she turned to face him. "You really believed me, didn't you?" she asked quietly.

Mac slowly opened his eyes to see the stick. The testing window was completely blank. He hugged Claire tightly to him. "It's alright," he whispered. "We'll keep trying this, alright? I promise you'll get your family someday."

"I - I'm a bit tired," Claire said, moving away from Mac toward the bedroom. "Goodnight."

Once she left, Mac picked up the stick and put it back inside the box, as well as the instructions. He threw the whole thing into the trashcan next to the toilet, feeling guilty about it. He walked to the bedroom door, pausing in front of it. It didn't take much to realize that Claire would be in there, lying awake, not wanting to talk. However, Mac still entered.

Claire faced the other way. Mac crawled on top of the sheets, his stomach to her back, careful not to touch her.

"If we did have a girl, what would you have named her?" Claire asked quietly, still not looking at him.

"Claire, of course. That's the most beautiful name I know."

Claire gave a weak laugh which ended in a sniff. "So we'd be stuck calling the boy Mac? And if they were twins?"

"Mac and Claire Junior," Mac told her, smiling a little. "And we'd dress them just like us and everything. How's that?"

"Sounds like a good plan." Claire turned toward him and gave a tiny smile.

The next month, Mac found himself waiting outside of the bathroom door again. It had become a ritual, and he partook in it happily.

"Alright," Claire called, unlocking the door and letting him in. The stopwatch was already down five seconds.

Mac put his arm around her shoulders as usual. "We'll know soon."

Claire nodded, watching the watch closely. Fifty seconds.

"We're getting to _that_ age, so I'm hoping this one goes well," Claire told him. Mac considered it for a second and nodded. Forty was too close on the horizon.

"We still have enough time for a few more tries," Mac sighed. "Why do these minutes seem longer than every other minute in the world?"

Claire smiled. "Because these are the good minutes of our lives."

They waited in silence until the tinny sound filled the room of the watch. Claire picked up the stick again and stared at it.

"I don't know if it's right," she whispered, turning it over to show Mac. The test window held a small, blue line in the center of it.

"And that's when the doctor comes in," Mac said in a low voice, hugging Claire tight and kissing her.


End file.
